Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus (B)

Thus says the LORD:
“When Israel was a child, I loved him;
out of Egypt I called my son.
Yet I taught Ephraim to walk.
I took them in my arms;
but they did not know that I healed them.
I drew them with human cords,
with ties of love;
and I was to them
like those who lift up the yoke on their necks;
and I bent down to them and I fed them.

My heart is turned within me,
my compassion is aroused.
I will not execute the fierceness of my anger.
I will not return to destroy Ephraim:
for I am God, and not man;
the Holy One among you;
and I will not come in wrath.

Responsorial – Isaiah 12.2-3, 4, 5-6 Resp. 3

R. With joy you will draw water out of the wells of salvation.

Behold, God is my salvation.
I will trust and will not be afraid;
for the Lord, the Lord, is my strength and song;
and he has become my salvation.
Therefore with joy you will draw water
out of the wells of salvation.

R. With joy you will draw water out of the wells of salvation.

Give thanks to the Lord! Call on his name.
Declare his deeds among the nations.
Proclaim that his name is exalted!

R. With joy you will draw water out of the wells of salvation.

Sing to the Lord, for he has done excellent things!
Let this be known in all the earth!
Cry aloud and shout, you inhabitant of Zion;
For great in your midst
is the Holy One of Israel.

R. With joy you will draw water out of the wells of salvation.

Reading 2 – Ephesians 3.8-12, 14-19

Brothers and sisters:
To me, the very least of all saints,
was this grace given:
to preach to the Gentiles
the unsearchable riches of Christ,
and to bring to light for everyone
the economy of the mystery
which for ages has been hidden in God,
who created all things;
so that now through the Church
the manifold wisdom of God
might be made known to
the principalities and the powers
in the heavenly places,
according to the eternal purpose
which he accomplished
in Christ Jesus our Lord;
in whom we have boldness
and confident access
through our faith in him.

For this reason,
I bow my knees to
the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
from whom every family
in heaven and on earth is named,
that he would grant you,
according to the riches of his glory,
to be strengthened with power
through his Spirit in the inward human;
that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith;
to the end that you,
being rooted and grounded in love,
may be strengthened to comprehend
with all the saints what is
the breadth and length and height and depth,
and to know Christ’s love
which surpasses knowledge,
that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Gospel – John 19.31-37

So the Jews, because it was the Preparation Day,
so that the bodies would not remain on the crosses
on the Sabbath for that Sabbath was a special one,
asked of Pilate that their legs might be broken,
and that they might be taken away.
So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first,
and of the other who was crucified with him;
but when they came to Jesus,
and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs.
However one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear,
and immediately blood and water came out.
He who has seen has testified and his testimony is true.
He knows that he tells the truth that you may believe.
For these things happened, that the Scripture might be fulfilled,
“A bone of him will not be broken.”
Again another Scripture says,
“They will look on him whom they pierced.”